Ads on NBA Jerseys: a Perspective

The NBA has been discussing the possibility of allowing ads on jerseys. A travesty right? After reading this I looked down at my shoes. I currently am sporting a pair of Nikes. I’ll be honest and say I purchased them because they were the only size 10 1/2 in wide available when I last went shoe shopping. I’ll also say I remember “Like Mike” commercials from my childhood, have seen Space Jam multiple times and watched the Bulls win their second title on a tiny 13 inch TV when I was younger. So, you be the judge if my buying tastes are potentially tainted.

Here’s a fun comparison I noticed. The Nike logo on my shoes measured about 3.5 inches by 1.25 inches (the best I could do with the random ruler in our office supply cabinet. Here’s the actual size of that:

The NBA is discussing putting 2 inch by 2 inch ads on jerseys. For perspective, here’s the actual size of that:

I am a little more pessimistic when it comes to alleged fan revolts. During each strike/lockout fans threaten to leave. Yet, they come back as soon as the ink is dry on a new CBA. While I don’t doubt you could change some of the aspects of basketball to possibly drive fans away, I don’t believe more ads would do that. Stadiums are plastered in ads. Nationally televised games have required stops for commercials. Popular players all have sponsors. Their shoes already have bigger ads than the ones they’re discussing! In the end when it comes to pleasing the fans or making money I’m pretty sure the NBA will side with the money. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself, would they threaten take away the game you love for a few million more dollars? (I am of course asking this the season right after a lockout shortened season)

8 Responses to "Ads on NBA Jerseys: a Perspective"

The best part for NBA money men is that, with each sponsor change, you need to buy new jerseys, inflating revenue further. That is a trick European soccer clubs have run for years, although they have a stronger “fan must wear jersey” culture.

@tyhicks Well, why would he smokescreen that he uses ASPM and Wins Produced?
That’s practically how he drafts. He turned one draft pick into three and picked one out of Patriotism (Bernard James), one from Wins Produced, and one from his scouts (Jared Cunningham)

He’s obviously testing out stuff. In stead of hashing out, who’s system is better, he’s having all three compete. Savvy. I can tell why the scouts like Cunningham.

Considering the largest producers is a limited strategy. Since we know that 20% of the players produce 80% of the wins that means that most roster decisions have to be made about minimum producers. WoW spends a bunch of time arguing over minimum producers.

Hey all,
Saw the usage argument was starting to creep in here. No worries, we gave it its own thread. I will argue for the record, a dialog is a back and forth of new information. This site’s been around many years and we’ve seen a lot of these arguments before. We’ve answered some in the FAQ. We don’t really find it fun when our comments turn into spam threads for the same comments.